Eat, Pray, Love by Liz Gilbert.......

Because I typically "discover" a bestselling book three or four years after everyone else has "discovered" it, I am not going to write a real review of this book. It has been reviewed to death, and I don't think I can offer anything more intelligent or insightful than anyone else has already said.

That being said, I did enjoy this book very much. I had resisted reading it initially because it had the word "pray" in it. I was afraid I would be struck by lightning if I attempted to read anything touching on religion or spirituality.

I absolutely love Liz Gilbert's writing style. She has just a touch of sarcasm (like me.... just a touch, right?), she employs exaggeration with aplomb (probably the first time I've used THAT word in my blog), and she isn't afraid to make fun of herself.

Anytime I read a new book that I like very much, I want to become that writer. I want to model my writing after her (or him, sometimes), and I find myself THINKING in that writer's style. I want to go wherever the book is set, I want to learn everything about the writer, I want to meet the same people that writer met.

This was particularly true of Eat, Pray, Love, probably because it is after all a true story. These aren't made-up characters; they are real. VERY real.

I was already interested in learning some of the Italian language (it's on my 50 Things to Do List, after all), but after reading this book I'm even more intrigued. I wish I had known more of the language in 1993 when I got trapped twice, first in a bathroom in Florence, and then on a train. Rome was one city we didn't have time (or resources) to get to, and I have always wanted to go back to Italy and include this magnificent city this time. (Shut up, Sweet Girl. I don't want to hear about your time there. Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha)

I am even fascinated by Bali, not a place I would have put on my vacation wish-list before reading this book. It sounds like a marvelous place to visit, perhaps not so touristy as some other destinations. I am in awe of Liz Gilbert's talent for plopping herself down in a foreign country and not only surviving, but thriving.

The only part of the book I would have to pass on is the four months in India, living in an ashram and meditating for hours and hours every day. Scrubbing the floors at 4:00 AM wouldn't appeal to me either, but I would pick that over forced meditation and prayer any day. I'm just sayin'......

I want to be Liz Gilbert when I grow up.